


Perfect

by dimmadangit



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Canon, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Slow Build, Slow Burn, can be read either way, platonic, romantic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-02 23:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10955025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimmadangit/pseuds/dimmadangit
Summary: It was May-something. It was raining. Elsa had asked if Anna wanted to share a bedroom again. Canon Universe, series of related but standalone oneshots spanning over a year.





	1. Chapter 1

"No."

_Oh._

_**Bong** _

The forgotten grandfather clock was abrasive in its hourly chime.

_**Bong** _

_**Bong** _

Anna's heart must've been beating at least thirty times faster than that.

_**Bong** _

_**Bong** _

She looked at Elsa, who was studying the bottom of her tea cup with her knees drawn up in front of herself.

**_Bong_ **

The chime was mocking her.

**_Bong_ **

Yes, she felt weird about what transpired.

**_Bong_ **

Yes, she wanted to apologize.

**_Bong_ **

No, she couldn't say anything over that darn clock, what time was it anyway?

 ** _Bong_** , "I'm just trying to do my job"

 ** _Bong_** , "Don't yell at me"

_**Bong** _

The last note reverberated out into a painfully quiet echo throughout the library.

"Ah," Elsa looked up, her teacup examined enough. "It's nearly lunch time."

Anna tore her eyes from her newly silent clock companion to look at the other girl. "Yes", she replied simply, and accented it with two slow nods.

Elsa kept her gaze on Anna. Probably a little too intensely. Probably not intensely enough. When the clue to continue speaking wasn't taken, Elsa placed the thoroughly examined teacup on the side table with a sigh. "Right. Yes."

 _There should be servants coming to collect us soon_ , Anna thought.

 _Anytime soon would be great_ , she stared at the stitching on her sleeve.

 _The first servant through that door will be promoted_ , she willed.

The burning logs in the fireplace crackled. The rain beat against the window. Anna's breathing was heavy, thick with words she should say but couldn't figure out how to arrange them.

"Rain." _Yes, that's a word_. "It's still pouring." _almost a sentence! Now apologize_. She cleared her throat, "So, it's, uh, nearly lunch time."  _Ah, yes, what a heartfelt apology_.

Elsa faltered, then blinked rapidly. "Yes... It's nearly... Lunch time." This fact was established three times now.

"It's just not a good idea. You know." Anna's mouth started before her brain could put in its two cents. "With you being Queen right now." Her brain clicked on. "Not that you won't be Queen sometime." Clicked off. "I mean, not that you'll be Queen forever either." Clicked on. "What I mean to say-"

"Please." The other girl said with a slight smile. "You're stretching out this rejection."

There it is. The notorious 'R' word. "No, no, n-no no, it's not rejection!" Their eyes met. She paused. Smiled. Breathed. "Okay. It's sort of rejection."

Elsa lifted the teacup from its spot and took a sip. A ghost of a sip, really, as she was suddenly assaulted by an onslaught of words.

"What I mean to say is that I'm not sure I'm ready to share a bedroom again, like, I kick in my sleep, or at least I think I do 'cause my sheets are either all over the place or gone when I wake up, and I'm pretty sure I snore," -a breath- "and we haven't had enough sleepovers to prepare you for this kind of thing so I'm not sure you're entirely ready to combine our bedrooms yet either." Anna finished with a long exhale; she'd meant to say this 5 minutes ago - albeit more cohesively-when the question was first proposed.

Elsa's eyebrows and teacup-toting hand stayed raised until the other girl uttered a pathetic, "I'm sorry" and cast her gaze toward the equally pathetic embers popping in the fireplace. Eventually, Anna covered both eyes with her left hand as the silence between them stretched out.

Then, a giggle.

"Anna," Elsa offered a soft smile when the girl finally peeked at her between still-raised fingers. "It's okay."

Anna's right hand joined her left as she blindly shook her head. "No it isn't. I want to say yes, but I also want everything to be-"

Hands covered both of Anna's and moved them away from her face.

Elsa held Anna's wrists as she kneeled before her.

"... Perfect."

"It's already perfect. I understand."

Their fingers twined together. An air of calmness finally floated by as the girls stared at each other.

"I fart myself awake sometimes." Anna remarked, a goofy grin plastered on her face. Elsa's smile grew as well.

"I wouldn't expect any less."

The door to the library opened, letting in both a refreshing draft and an announcement that lunch had been prepared. Elsa replied that they'd come shortly and once the servant left, she returned her focus to Anna.

"What I'm getting from this conversation," she stood up and tugged on their still-interlaced hands, bringing Anna to her feet as well. "... Is that we need to have more sleepovers."

Anna smirked. "I don't know, I'm pretty booked for the next few nights." Anna held up one hand, looking through an imaginary schedule. "Yeah, see, tonight I'm actually supposed to fart myself awake again." Elsa failed at suppressing a grin, and looked at Anna's 'schedule', pretending to flip a page. "Oh, but look, that's not scheduled to happen until nearly sunrise. You're available for most of the night."

"Okay, I could pencil you in. Say, 9 o'clock?"

"9 o'clock." Elsa punctuated with a squeeze to Anna's hand.

They walked out of the library together toward the dining room, a comfortable quietness settling over them. Once they'd passed the art room, Elsa spoke up.

"What about a bathroom?"

Anna whipped her head to face her sister.

"Uh, what _about_ a bathroom?"

Elsa turned her head slightly toward Anna. "What if we shared a bathroom?"

"As in, what are you saying? Your room will be next to mine," A nod. "With only a bathroom separating us," A slower nod. "That we share?" Elsa stopped walking and turned to face Anna fully.

"Yes, Anna. That's what I'm saying. Asking. How does that sound?"

Their hands were still intertwined as Anna hugged Elsa.

It was awkward.

It kinda hurt.

It was...

"Perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I don't write.
> 
> These two got to me.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. The Bet

It was nearing the end of June and the last dregs of rain had finished earlier in the week. The air was crisp, the plants plentiful, and the clouds absent except for the ones the Princess's head was currently taking residence in.

"Anna," Elsa leaned in to whisper in Anna's ear. "That's the third dignitary you've ignored."

It was the night of the summer solstice and the celebration was just as energetic as it was 10 hours earlier. The royal sisters were poised in the front of the ballroom; sitting was decidedly too formal and dancing too informal.

Not 10 minutes ago, Anna had been bouncing on the balls of her feet in time with the music, Elsa swaying alongside her, when the music changed and Anna had stopped. Stopped bouncing. Stopped greeting. Stopped focusing.

Elsa nudged her with her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

 _Don't lie_ , Anna thought. "It's, uh... Been a long day." _Wanna try that one again?_ "Of festivities." _Great job_. "It's the longest day of the year, you know." Anna nudged Elsa back.

Elsa smiled and nudged her back once more before bringing her hand to Anna's shoulder to pull her close. "If exhaustion is what's disturbing you, we can end the night soon. Although I have a feeling it's not." She released the shoulder and brushed imaginary lint off of it. "I recall a certain someone with the ability to stay up for three days and two nights just to plan this exact celebration."

Anna's recollection of said event had her sister beside her while creating the itinerary, repetitive whispers of " _chocolate fountain_ " in her ear until Anna was forced to ban her from the room on the grounds of celebration interference.

A bark of a chuckle came from Anna. "Alright, you caught me." Anna let out a small breath through her still-smiling lips. "I was thinking about our childhood."

Elsa turned her torso fully toward Anna now, eyebrows knit and mouth in a thin line. _That_ had caught her off guard. Anna worried her bottom lip and clasped her hands in front of herself. "The band over there," She nodded her head in their direction, "They're playing a song my music tutor gave me sheet music for. It made me realize... I don't know if you play an instrument. I don't know if we had the same old lady tutor- heck, I don't know if you even _had_ a music class." Anna rubbed the back of one hand with the other hands' thumb. "That's what was bothering me." She lifted her gaze to a spot on the wall. A spot near the band. A spot on the floor. Any spot but Elsa's.

Elsa exhaled. Reached out to Anna's shoulder with her right hand and Anna's hands with her left one. She smiled when her actions prompted the other girl to finally look at her.

"We have a lot of time to make up for. We also have the rest of our lives to do it. I'd like to think we can. I'd like to think we are." The hand perched on Anna's shoulder joined the rest in front of her.

Two pairs of eyes locked onto each other and the girls enjoyed a moment between themselves, smiles growing and eyes crinkling. A lull in the background music floated around them, a reminder of their conversation.

"Violin. I learned plenty of other strings instruments, but that was my favorite." Elsa offered, releasing Anna's hands.

Anna smirked. "Overachiever. How many is 'plenty'?"

Elsa raised a hand to laugh behind it. " _Plenty_. What kind of instruments did you play?"

"Dodge my question and I'll dodge yours." Anna replied, planting her hands on her hips for good measure. Unfortunately, her desire to answer outweighed her desire to get even, so she settled upon an honest "I can read brass music."

"Ah, I remember not being able to play brass instruments. My embouchure wasn't up to par." She bumped Anna with her shoulder. "Maybe that's why you're so great at it, with that mouth of yours that never stops moving."

"Well, dear sister, the world needs people who can play the violin like you do." Anna imitated plucking a banjo.

An un-Queenly chortle filled Anna's ears, followed by a brief pause as Elsa leaned in to whisper into Anna's ear.

"Bet you a whole week of my dessert you won't take that players' trumpet."

Surprise lined Anna's face for the briefest of moments before amusement replaced it. "How about I up the ante? A whole _month_ of dessert for what I'm about to do."

The girls grinned in unison; a silent agreement.

"And afterwards, we can hit up one of the 37 chocolate fountains you've suggested."

The night ended with a chocolate-filled tuba, several band members sprawled on an impromptu ice rink, all the strings from an unfortunate violin strummed to their breaking points, two busted pillars "instead of eight, okay", one servant's coat caught on the chandelier after he'd been launched into the air, and a promised entire month of Elsa's desserts.

"Happy Solstice, Anna." Elsa said around the stolen bonbons in her mouth.

"Mrmph." Anna replied.


	3. The Anniversary

"Isn't it funny?" Anna said between two monstrous bites of her sandwich.

A light breeze made the branches above them shiver and the leaves ruffle. The July air was considerate. A picnic lunch in the garden didn't take much effort to suggest.

"I guess that depends on a personal definition of 'funny'," Elsa replied around the sandwich chunk in her mouth.

Anna tilted her head from its previous position on the tree, eyebrows scrunched together, confused. Elsa had been like this most of the day, and Anna was out of ice jokes. She took another bite and stared. Munch. Scrunch. Munch. Scrunch.

_Ding_.

"Oh. Are you gonna be broody because this is the anniversary?" Munch.

A deep exhale, followed by a weak smile. "A lot happened in those few days." Elsa let her head tip to rest back on the tree, grateful for the shade it provided, and resumed her sandwich mission.

The sandwich might have been her third. It might have been her fourth.

But at least it wasn't her eighth, like the girl next to her.

Said bottomless pit reached into the basket only to fiddle around inside of it and come back empty-handed. "What happened to all the food?" She asked, muffled from the evidence in her mouth.

"Why don't you ask your stomach?"

Elsa flicked specks of coldness at the younger girl's cheek, who responded by wildly waving the basket attached to her arm. The basket then flew out of the shade.

Anna got up to stand; one hand propped on the tree, the other finding first Elsa's shoulder, then Elsa's head. Eventually she stood- a valiant effort that only took two minutes longer than it should have.

Once she stood, she politely offered her hand to Elsa who politely declined. So Anna impolitely pulled her sister to stand anyway.

Elsa stumbled into a recovered stride alongside Anna, who was inspecting every plant she walked near. Every plant. "Are you...?" Elsa started. Anna didn't pause her herbal examination. "Okay, what are you doing? And don't say the absurd thing I think it is."

"I'm looking..." _Here we go_. "...For berries." Anna punctuated by ducking down and darting her arm into shrubbery. She let out a triumphant "Aha!" and her other arm joined the first.

_Of course Anna was scrounging for berries after gobbling more than half a dozen sandwiches._

Anna's first hand came back with two small, blue, bell-like fruits. Which were then unceremoniously dropped into Elsa's palms, and Anna returned to the bush.

"And you're making me an accomplice to this?"

Anna turned to look at Elsa with an almost offended expression on her face. She put a few more berries in Elsa's hands. "You don't want to pick berries with me?"

As Queen, Elsa should have said 'no'. As Queen, Elsa should have mentioned how much work the gardeners do. And as Queen, Elsa should certainly not have dropped down on her knees in the dirt.

But as Anna's sister, Queen Elsa should have at least eaten one of the berries before squishing her handful against both of Anna's cheeks.

Anna, hands occupied, could only gape while Elsa continued to rub the mush on her face.

Elsa stood, satisfied. Anna finally pulled out the hindering berries, remains of others sliding off her cheeks as she too, stood.

A chunk of berry guts dangled and plopped onto Anna's crossed arms below.

A giggle from one party, a content sigh from the other. "You can have those." Elsa said, pointing to the ones in the girl's hand and the ones on the girl's face.

Anna once again offered her hand. This time, it was taken.

They bumbled through the garden aimlessly. Their hands held berry mush between them.

"It's funny that we can get those plants imported," Elsa squeezed her sisters hand, emphasizing the mush. "But not your favorite."

"Depends on a personal definition of 'funny'," Anna's voice mixed with the breeze. Her gaze fell to the ground in front of her.

Elsa glanced at Anna. Glanced and thought. Thought and decided.

She let go of her sister's hand, gave a reassuring look, and strode a few feet toward a small swatch of unoccupied garden. She took three long breaths, then extended her arms in front of her. The image in her head projected at her fingertips and solidified in the space.

Five ice sunflowers delicately sparkled.

Elsa heard Anna beside her. Felt shaky arms around her shoulders. Smelled honey berries on Anna's close cheeks. Saw the midday sun through newly sculpted sunflowers.

And tasted the crisp air of a first anniversary gone right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, they sure did only pack a dozen sandwiches for a picnic.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. The Routine

Just three months after the decision to share a bathroom, Anna saw the fault in it. Actually, the fault in Elsa. _Actually_ , the fault in Elsa's routine. It was a subtle schedule, and it was very precisely planned.

Anna would wake up after Elsa. She would bathe, brush, and beam. The older girl would still be sitting in bed, reading studiously. She'd check to see if Elsa would want to walk to breakfast together and each time Elsa would say, "I'll meet you in the dining hall". Then Anna would make her way there, have two steaming cups of tea prepared, and wait. She would never have to wait long.

Wake up. Bathe. Brush. Beam. "I'll meet you there". One lump for Elsa, two lumps for Anna. Wait. Ad nauseam.

For three months.

Had Anna eaten more at supper the night before this particular August morning, the routine might have gone on longer. Anna's alarm clock hadn't been the sun on her face or the birds near her window, but her stomach.

She'd been laying on it in hopes of subduing the sound of a bear's growl, but only intensified it. With a defeated exhale, she rolled over.

"Alright, tummy," Anna's voice was laced with sleep. "You've got top priorities this morning." Anna rubbed her face with her sleeve slowly.

Slowly.

Slooowly.

 _ **Growl**_. "Mm. Okay."

She walked through the bathroom that connected the girls' rooms together, arm still suspended in the air. She found Elsa's connecting door and went in. Elsa was, of course, nose deep in a novel.

"Morning. Breakfast?" Anna said to the cover of a book. The older girl didn't look up as she replied her usual, "meet you in the dining room", so Anna left her with a hum of acknowledgment. Anna passed through the bathroom again, this time getting a quick look at the mirror at her attractive self.

A pile of red straw, tangled up and stacked on her head. Bleary eyes looking back at her. A chapped half-smile. Disheveled nightgown.

And that's how exactly what Elsa found a few minutes later in the dining hall, nursing sugary tea.

"Anna!" Elsa yelped. Seemingly startled. "You haven't done your morning routine?"

Anna brought her cup to her lips. "Nah." A sip. "I'll do that after I get some food in me. What would you like for breakfast?" She patted the seat cushion next to her with her free hand.

Elsa stood there. Staring. Then she nodded- more to herself than Anna- as she sat down in the seat nearest to her, a few chairs away from the other girl.

Anna cocked her head and retracted her hand. _Do I smell? Am I that much of an eyesore?_ Her eyes narrowed, _or is Elsa just being a butt?_

 _Only three chairs between us_. Anna scooted onto the seat she'd previously reserved for Elsa. _Two_. Slid less-than-gracefully onto another. _One_. The last offending chair had been pushed fully under the table so when Anna tried pulling it out, it wobbled and toppled over. Anna's horrified eyes followed its comically slow descent that led to a deafening crash in the previously silent dining room. _Okay, you know, that's one way to do it_ , she decided.

A quiet hem tore her attention from the disaster.

"I'm sure the chair didn't deserve that, Anna."

A beat. "There are too many of them in here for the two of us. We should get rid of some." Anna let her gaze flicker to the fallen chair. "Starting with that one."

Elsa looked hesitant. Not about the chair thing, probably.

Breakfast was a quick affair. Anna spent more time with food in her mouth than words out of it. Elsa filled any holes in conversation by talking about her nights' dream; rippling water, broken eggshells, and a recurring goat.

After the food had been cleared and the girls started back to their rooms, Anna piped up. "Why did you look so weird earlier?"

Elsa paused walking, an internal debate on how she should respond.

She chose snark.

"You're one to talk." Elsa said, motioned to Anna's entirety- lingering near the girl's bird nest of a hairdo- and resumed walking.

Anna's elbow jabbed Elsa's side. "Hardee har har. You know what I mean."

Elsa did know what she meant. And she sighed. "Listen, Anna, I didn't want you to find out about this for a long time. Or ever. 'Never' sounded better." They stopped between their bedroom doors. "But the truth lies in that bathroom, and I'd rather you see it than have me ever admit to it."

If Anna wasn't awake before, this certainly did the trick. Gone were those bleary eyes, replaced by saucers she could fit her sugary teacup on. The door right beside them held an amazing secret.

Her fingers hovered above the door knob.

Elsa's eyes waited intensely. The knob turned.

The door eased open.

From the doorway, Anna could see the marks she'd left on the mirror when she looked at herself. Even though Anna had only walked through the bathroom, she still managed to dirty up a spot. So Anna's messy, that's a given.

But Elsa? Almost worse.

The bathtub looked like it had been given a bath. Even if the bathtub was excluded, even if a _10-foot bubble_ surrounding the bathtub was excluded, it could hardly make up for the amount of water in the room. There were puddles everywhere. Everywhere. Each with little icebergs floating and melting.

Anna looked to Elsa. Elsa looked to the ceiling. Anna looked to the ceiling. A water droplet fell between her eyes.

The ceiling, too, had an equal- if not greater- icy, melty mess.

"... Elsa," Anna breathed. She wiped at the wetness on her face.

The other girl's gaze had already fled the room, back turned to the scene of the crime as she spoke. "I always have you leave before I begin so you won't have the displeasure of seeing this..." Her voice lowered. "... Disaster."

Anna, eyes still glued on the ceiling, tilted her head toward Elsa and paced slightly. "I always thought you were tidy. Immaculate, even."

Elsa covered her eyes in shame. Had she covered her ears, she would have spared herself in hearing Anna utter the worst sentence in the world.

"... Ice-stand corrected."

Elsa fidgeted. Took her hands away from her face, whipped around, and saw Anna doing a horrible job at suppressing laughter.

It was both refreshing and stifling.

"You can't seriously be poking fun at my darkest secret." Elsa made her way to where Anna stood in front of the three way mirror, avoiding zero puddles and soaking her slippers. Four pairs of arms crossed in mock offense.

"That you're..." Grinning, Anna and her three reflections peeked around, as if looking for eavesdroppers. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "... A big slob?"

Elsa's smile, against all her doubts, emerged once again. "Not just a big slob." Her arms uncrossed and she leaned into Anna, her reflections followed. "The biggest."

Eight pairs of hands came together in four groups.

"I don't mind that you're a big slob- the biggest, sorry. But we should do our routine together. See who makes the biggest mess."

Thumbs rubbed on the backs of hands; wrists brushed wrists; feet squished in forgotten puddles.

"And you shouldn't worry," the return of Anna's smug, self-satisfied grin, "I'll keep everything... _Confiden-chill_."

Four groups of hands became four pairs as Elsa walked away, unaware of how many puns Anna had prepared nor how many more she could take.

The next morning-and most following mornings- Anna woke up and joined Elsa in brushing teeth. Elsa did Anna's two braids, Anna did half of Elsa's (Elsa insisted on finishing; her style required ice magic). Anna would bathe first, Elsa would bathe after. Sugary tea would be made together and the dining room had considerably less chairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I was vague enough in Elsa's dream, but try to guess what it was anyway!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	5. The Excursion

A September weekend as fair as this, Elsa decided, was meant for an outing. Letters read, contracts signed, all ahead of schedule. An easy day. As such, she beckoned the nearest servant to find and collect her sister.

"Your majesty, Princess Anna has requested to be undisturbed."

Of course this part was going to be a trying experience.

"Undisturbed." She stated, moving papers aside as if trying to make room for the ridiculous news that was cast in front of her.

The servant avoided her pointed gaze. "Yes, your majesty. Disturbed by no one," a small, well-used notebook came from his pocket and he read directly, " _'Including Elsa'_ , your majesty."

Elsa blinked a few times and cleared her throat. "Hm. Well, let her know that I would like to request her company in a walk. If she wants details, inform her I will be waiting here in my study." The servant wrote furiously on his notepad.

A beat.

"And remind her that I'm the Queen. If it would help." He paused in writing, then replied in affirmation and fled.

Elsa aimed her eye-rolling at the desk and planted her cheek against her fist. Over breakfast, Elsa had asked what Anna planned for the day. When she was given "Oh, y'know, stuff" as an answer, she didn't think much.

She glanced around, head still propped. _I could go by myself_ , she thought. _Make a queenly appearance for my people._

She extended her arms for a well-needed stretch. Then the legs, "oh goodness," for a very-needed stretch. She stood up. Hands on hips for thought.

Yes, Elsa could go out. In public. On her own. By herself. Yes.

Without Anna.

A sigh as she brought her hands down to scrawl on paper: "Anna, I've left to the town already. Maybe I'll meet you there if you read this? Hope to see you soon, Elsa."

Reread. Reread. _Hm_.

She squeezed in an "I love you" between the closing words and signature, folded it, left it on the desk. Walked out, then back in, straightened the note, and walked out once more. She took her time exiting the castle, trying to look extra regal on the outside to combat the fraying nerves on the inside. Excited. Nervous. Excited. Nervous. The two emotions were having a blame battle on which caused Elsa to start snowing when Kai greeted her.

"No, guards shouldn't be needed,"

"Okay but only one,"

"Alright two is fine, but they shouldn't have to stand too close,"

"Thank you for being cautious."

And she was out.

The two-turned-three guards kept 15 meters back, matching the distance of their Queen as she walked.

There were few people in the plaza, fewer stalls. Elsa greeted and visited each. Everybody bowed as she approached, the kid running the blueberry stand especially as she bought a weeks-worth of the fruits. Elsa hadn't meant to buy anything, but couldn't resist buying Anna's favorite fruit. Possibly favorite. Alright, so Elsa had to discover this tidbit on her own. Whenever pies were presented as desserts, there were always two: blueberry and strawberry. Anna always picked the blueberry. _Thus_ , Elsa smiled matter-of-factly, _these must be her favorite_. The brown paper bag crinkled in time with her arm sways.

She squinted and spotted a café a few meters ahead with just one solitary patron. This looked like a place Anna would enjoy. Yes, she could wait there. Maybe give the guards a little lunch break? It had to be nearing that time.

Elsa meant to flag down the guards but the action was stilled by the sound of a familiar sneeze. A _jarringly_ familiar sneeze. She could call the sequence.

_The second is loud._

"Ah, aaah, CHOO!"

_The third directly after._

"Hahchoo!"

_Then a brief pause, because she always thinks the third is the last._

"... Mm. Ah. Ah-ACHOO!"

Elsa's eyes were painted as a scowling squint at the back of the now-sniffling figure, the lone café-goer.

Hunched over and nursing a steaming cup, legs swinging beneath the chair, a mindless hum before slowly picking up the cup.

And the _way_ the figure lifted her cup; Elsa would recognize that slight lilt of a pinky anywhere as a memory resurfaced:

_"Elsa, with your pinky out you do give off that royal appearance- but when it's out that far, you seem pretentious! Yes you do, don't look at me like that." To which Elsa stuck her pretentious pinky out even further, Anna mocked and mimicked, and they had a pinky duel. The drinks they were holding spilled everywhere._

Elsa set her shoulders back and her stare on the person. That sneeze. That posture. That _pinky_.

And just like _that_ , her day held more interest than she'd signed up for.

* * *

 

Make up. Cloak. Hay as faux-hair, hood up. More make up. Speaking in a deeper voice. Anna had always done her best to sneak out of the castle and be indistinguishable; it had worked so far with only minor hiccups. She was very good at sneaking about, and did it frequently. On a day when both of her parents fell asleep after lunch. On a day that Elsa replied through that barricade of a door with a whole two words, "be careful". Heck, even on a day that she was requested for a meeting, _during_ the meeting hour!

Which was careless of Anna, because hiccup number one was a panicked frenzy among the servants and guards who went to retrieve the princess from where she said she would be- in the gardens- only to find the grounds empty. Anna waltzed through the gates one hour and three alarm ringings later.

Hiccup number two was far more pleasant. The trinket stand owner hadn't paid much attention to her; she a constant customer who purchased when passing. This day in particular, Anna had stuffed an excessive amount of the loose hay in the hood of her cloak. The trinkets she ogled were especially shiny and she just _had_ to get a closer look. First a single strand of hay fell, which led to nervous laughter and "oh look at that, must be stress". Then the rest of it cascaded out atop the wares.

Anna stammered an explanation to the horrified stand owner, then revealed herself and the owner swore to secrecy.

Anna's schedule for today held nothing that she couldn't put off for another day. And a weekend as fair as this, Anna decided, was meant for an outing. She had made her way to her favorite store owner, picked out a palm-sized silvery brooch, bagged it, and sat at her favorite spot in the outdoor café. Anna's feet didn't quite reach the ground so she crossed her ankles and swung them. Her tea was halfway gone, and she brought it to her lips once more.

"Anna?"

In comes hiccup number 3.

Anna had to fight the instinct to turn- not only at her name being called, but the voice behind it as well. Still, her hands betrayed her and hesitated with the cup near her lips. Which didn't go unnoticed by the voice.

"Anna." Less of a question, more of a scold.

Anna slowly turned and feigned surprise.

"Ah, your Majesty!" Anna's voice cracked, and the attempt at a lower register was clearly not natural. She stood and curtsied anyway.

Elsa's left eyebrow raised as she watched. This was Anna. This was strange. This was confusing.

And she was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Hello," Elsa smiled sweetly when the other stood again. "I'm afraid I haven't seen you before. And I like to greet all of my people." Wink.

Anna ignored the alarming voice in the back of her head crying out that Elsa knew. _All your practice has come to this moment. It's time to break out the persona. Frida Fretheim, born and raised in town, can make a mean custard._

"Your majesty, my name is Fretta Fridheim and- no wait. Fritha Fredthem, no, uh..." The confidence Anna had seconds ago escaped faster than her alias. "Give me a sec, I _just_ had it."

Elsa's sweet smile expanded to a broad grin at her sister's expense. "Oh, have you forgotten your own name?" Tut tut. Grin. "Maybe it's hidden under all this makeup."

She wiped at Anna's cheek, fingers coming back with smeared powder.

"Ah, here it is. A-N-N..." Elsa rubbed off another part with a cheeky smile. "...A. Anna."

Anna rolled her eyes at her sister's antics, placing her hands over Elsa's lingering one. "Okay, detective, you caught me."

"Are you going to offer an explanation?" Elsa asked, smile lessening. Anna nodded once, twice, and pouted. Elsa looked over her shoulder at the guards Kai had sent, who were visually curious while she was still curious herself. She turned back to Anna. Her hand moved from the girl's face and she leaned in to whisper. "Not here. It wouldn't do for the princess to be outed as a troublemaker. Walk with me?"

"I'm sure the people are aware." Anna reached her right hand for Elsa's left. And was denied. Denied by the crinkled bag in Elsa's clutch and by the guards in the background itching for their Queen's orders.

Elsa noticed. She finally waved her guards down and met them some paces away from Anna, in case of recognition. However, once Elsa mentioned lunch, their mission of identifying the mysterious figure was left forgotten and they scattered. Excited shouts of "fårikål feast day" followed them and echoed throughout the streets.

When left alone, Elsa resumed her walk and Anna reluctantly sidled along, bringing her bag with the brooch. Her tea remained nearly-empty and completely-cold on the table.

They walked a while, two sets of footsteps and paper bag rustles the only accompanying sounds. Even the breeze was quiet.

Anna didn't want to ruin the calm atmosphere grating on her; after all Elsa was the one who suggested a talk, so she waited for her to speak first.

And waited.

Her eyes narrowed and peeked at Elsa subtly. And then her eyes widened and stared not-so-subtly.

_Blatant staring, yes, that will get her attention._

Elsa own eyes shifted to Anna for the briefest moment, then back to the road ahead. "'Leif and Jens, the Tea Gents' make an excellent cup". Elsa's hands came together behind her, bag between them.

Anna copied the motion. "Yes, they do." she slowed each word, each letter out, unsure of where Elsa was going with this.

"And you're a frequent customer of theirs, presumably?" Elsa's wandering eyes finally acknowledged Anna's confused ones and the younger nodded. "They should be so pleased to have the princess as such a loyal patron."

_There's the kicker_ , Anna thought as Elsa's game finally came to a head.

Anna harrumphed out a response, to which Elsa greedily questioned, "I didn't catch that?"

"I said, _they don't know who I am_." Anna turned fully toward the older girl: head tilted, lips pursed, arms akimbo. Elsa glanced at her and immediately barked out a laugh that she covered with her palm.

They continued down the cobblestone path. Boots clicking. Wind swooshing. Pebbles kicked (mostly by Anna). The hilly land soon became flat as the girls neared the docks on the fjord.

"They probably know it's you," Elsa smoothly stated. She continued before Anna could adjust her agape mouth. "They could always tell when it was me."

They'd stopped on one of the smaller docks, Elsa some steps ahead because Anna was struck immobilized.

Anna's mouth could not get any wider, even if she was trying to cram a whole cake in it. Her stance was in-between steps and her eyes followed Elsa. The older girl sat at the end of the dock, dangling her legs over the edge. "You'll catch flies if you keep you mouth open like that." she mused and patted the space next to her.

Anna scrambled to the spot, nearly sitting on Elsa's hand.

"Do you mean to tell me," Anna giggled, "that the hoity toity, 'laws are made for a reason Anna', uppity, rulebook nosing Queen of Arendelle has snuck out before?" Eyes shiny. Eyebrows raised. Cheeks rosy. Anna was elated and awestruck.

"Repeatedly." Elsa smirked and leaned back on her hands.

Anna shifted to lean her back against Elsa, knees raised and arms to her side. The sun was blinding in the clear sky above and in the reflective water below.

"You have an awful lot of makeup on your face."

Anna tilted her head back onto Elsa's shoulder. "It's also on my butt in case you'd've gone so far as to ask Frida Fretheim to pull down her pants to see that birthmark."

"Is that her name?" Elsa's warm cheek touched Anna's warmer one, and her hand fumbled on the dock until it found her sister's hand.

"Was. Now I suppose it's Fret-A-Fried-Ham." Her hand accepted the other and she turned her head back. And then to the neglected bags behind them, in the middle of the dock.

Anna asked "what's in your bag" at the same time that Elsa asked "what did you purchase", and that caused little chuckles from both of them. The older made an "after you, milady" gesture to which the younger responded with an equally absurd "why thank you" gesture, and retrieve her sister's bag.

Anna made a show of reaching into the bag, her arm darted around the inside of the bag, and she held it up to the light as if to look in it.

"Goober. Reach into it, eyes closed."

And she did. Her hand blindly met and squished some small objects.

"Is this food?" Anna asked while pulling one out and peeked at it with one eye. Her back straightened as she turned her torso to her sister. "Blueberries?!" She exclaimed, popped a couple in her mouth, then offered Elsa one.

Elsa, delighted, took the presented berry. They were sitting face-to-face now, Anna's legs crossed and Elsa's beneath herself. "I had a feeling those were your favorite."

A pause mid-chew, Anna (who'd been staring at the water) turned her head slowly to her sister. One chew. Two chews. Pause. "They are?"

Elsa faltered in chewing as well. Her eyes met Anna's, eyebrows coming together, and she swallowed the fruit in her mouth. "Erm, aren't they?"

Anna resumed eating. She looked away from Elsa for a time, entranced over past fruit-consuming experiences, devouring berries handful by handful. "I hadn't thought about it before, but I'd have to say I like strawberries more." Another handful. "But these are pretty good too, so thank you!"

Elsa shook her head. _But the pies!_ she thought. She had thought it loudly. She had thought it out loud.

"The... The pies?" Anna asked, almost salivating already. "Like the ones served after dinner? I love those. They're always blueberry though." Her eyebrows scrunched. "Is that why you think..."

"Anna," Elsa was smiling now. Recognition lined her face. "There's one blueberry, one strawberry. You'd know that if you didn't inhale the pie like fresh morning air." That earned her a swat to her arm, chuckling in response.

Anna leaned back on her arms. "Maybe we could ask the kitchens to make a pie of blueberries and strawberries mixed. We can call it Strueberry pie."

"Or Blawberry"

"You're a Blawberry."

Elsa wanted to retort, but Anna dropped her own bag into Elsa's lap.

Other than her hand on her chest in a "for me?" gesture, she skipped the exaggerated pantomime removed the item from Anna's bag. She stared at the silvery object in her grip.

"What's-"

"It's for you." Anna started before Elsa could. "It reminded me of you."

She was silent for a while, touching and turning the object in her hand. It didn't seem to have a definite identity, circular and spiraling. Small white sparkling jewels lined the outside and a slightly larger purple one centered it. It felt nice in her palm, the jewels making an alternating smooth and jagged texture.

Back to her sister, who was worrying her lip and tapping her knuckles together. She continued to do so until she felt Elsa's arms around her.

"Thank you. I'm glad you think of me when you're being a runaway. And I'm glad you actually gave this to me."

Anna's hands went to Elsa's waist.

A final squeeze. They returned to their regular seated positions on the dock. Elsa noticed and brushed off white powder from her shoulder, feigning a grimace. "Anna, I think I have some of your face on me."

Anna rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, okay, _ha ha_. I'll wash the makeup off when we get back." Elsa held Anna's hands.

"Or," Elsa cleared her throat and stood up, pulling her sister up with her, "You could wash the makeup off _right here_." A mischievous glint in her eyes, a toothy grin, and it was all over for Anna as Elsa pushed her into the clear water below them.

Anna sputtered when she surfaced, dripping makeup, wet hay and soaked hair clinging to her face. To which Elsa could just laugh and fail at avoiding the water splashes thrown at her.

They squished and squelched their way back to the castle, creating foot-sized puddles and confused faces from townsfolk.

They parted ways outside their conjoined bathrooms. Anna's makeup had already run off her face, but she took a hot bath anyway. And Elsa put her favorite new trinket in her drawer that was mostly full of similar trinkets that she'd found through many years; placed on her bed pillow, near the mirror, on the window seat she favored. Until today, she had only an inkling of who the source was. And today, that inkling became a confirmed piece of art.


	6. The Late-night

"Bond with you?"

A nod.

"Using snow?"

A quicker nod.

"Tonight?"

An over-the-top sigh. "Yes Elsa. Tonight." Anna punctuated by wrapping her arm around Elsa's bicep. "Like you're busy with anything else."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Sleeping, perhaps." She then motioned to the bed beneath them in an attempt to remind Anna that sleeping _was_ what she had been busy with, prior to the girl flopping on top of her with excited utterings. Regardless, Elsa scooted closer.

"You know, it's October. _Natural_ snow will fall within the month." Elsa slid back under their soft quilt, enough to cover the smug look on her face.

"Maybe I want to experience it sooner. I've heard that you have the ability to do that."

Elsa pondered. Then smiled.

"It's sleep time, Anna."

Anna pouted. Then schemed.

"Fine, _however_ ," Her grip around Elsa's arm tightened further, as if to say _there's no escape_ , "sleep is easier with story time, and I will not take 'no' as an answer". She released and reached over Elsa to the nightstand to retrieve her target: a barely-used diary, bound in blue velvet.

Anna scooted back to her side of the bed and flipped the diary open, thumbing through pages. Elsa, confused countenance, watched with a cocked head and furrowed brows. It struck her, once Anna had settled on a blank page, that perhaps playing along would placate the younger girl and allow Elsa the chance to sleep. The thought returned her features to amusement.

"Once upon an October, there were two sisters; Queen Gelsa and Princess... Donna."

If only placation were that simple.

"Princess Donna wanted to play in the snow a few weeks early, so Gelsa- who had cold magic- made it happen. And they had fun, like, a lot of fun. And Gelsa didn't regret it at all. The end. And nothing bad happened to them. _The. end_." Anna declared confidently.

Elsa laughed. "Was Gelsa in the middle of sleeping beforehand?" she pointed to the page Anna had been "reading" from.

A lighthearted shove and smile. "This is my story, I've included what I want."

They held a quietly competitive gaze between them, daring the other to withdraw.

Finger still on the blank page and eyes on her sisters', Elsa breathed out, "If it's _your_ story, _you_ make it happen."

She laid down fully with a small "goodnight, Anna".

Anna's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and her slightly smiling lips parted in astonishment. She shook her head and ripped the page from the diary before balling it up.

Elsa's face crumpled nearly as much as the paper that hit her.

She gave Anna an incredulous look.

Anna responded in a half-whisper: "I'm making it happen."

Elsa's left hand twitched, her magic was piqued and ready for revenge.

"Not here."

And then they were off the bed, racing down the halls in a mirthful whirlwind of shushed giggles and wildly uncoordinated gestures. _Down this hall, down those stairs, stop tickling me Anna_. Elsa led and Anna followed. Their hands separated a few times, but never for very long.

The ballroom is where the two landed- literally, as ever-impatient Anna shoved straight through the door and onto her sister.

She pushed off the floor and twirled around, closing on the center of the room."It's been so long since we've done this!" Twirl.

Elsa had been elbowing her way off the floor. But she froze in place, arms angled. Anna took notice.

"Elsa?" She moved closer to her sister.

"Anna... What...?" Low murmurs.

Anna sprinted the last couple of feet and placed her hands on the older's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Elsa finally met her confused stare. "What did you... You remember?"

Anna helped her up. Her hands stayed on Elsa's shoulders.

Once standing, Elsa could tell the other girl wasn't following her train of thought. A breath. "Anna, do you..." Her shaky hands held themselves. "Do you remember what happened in here when I... When I-"

"Uh... Blasted me?" A lengthy pause. "With snow?"

Prolonged silence turned to an inappropriate giggle, inappropriate _giggles_ so uncontrollable that she had to rest her head on the other girl's shoulder. "Yes," muffled by laughter and cloth, "That."

Anna replied with a rub on Elsa's upper back, "I remember a lot, now, that I didn't before. After that whole 'freezing and unfreezing my heart' thing, a lot of other memories came back to me. Speaking of cold stuff..."

She patted Elsa softly until she looked around. And up. There was snow. She was snowing, especially.

Anna stepped back. Twirl. Elsa's eyes, then body, followed her. She stomped her foot on the ground and crackling ice gradually spread around her, covered the floor, and made its way up the tall pillars and decorated walls. Reaching the center of the ceiling, snow burst from the meeting edges.

Anna stared dreamily, half twirls, arms coming up of their own accord to catch some of the enchantment floating upon her.

Her eyes sparkled like the snow.

Then, her face sparkled with the snow pelted at her.

Elsa giggled with her back flushed against the shield of a pillar. Anna's retaliating snowballs thudded against the other side.

Thud.

Thud. Thudthud.

"Elsa!"

Thud.

"You butt," Anna huffed between throws, "I was having a moment." Then she got quiet.

Really quiet.

Elsa peeked out from her hiding spot and was instantly met with a face full of cold powder. The second exploded on her shoulder and the third whizzed by her head. Anna had made a tremendous pile of oblong snowballs and was doing her best to deplete it by means of pelting it at her sister.

They ran and hid, throwing snowballs, laughs echoing around. Elsa was, of course, better at the production of perfect powdery snowballs and aim. Anna wasn't inept however, throwing an abundance of any and all shapes of snow. Profusion over precision.

The snow crunched under her feet as she ran- and tripped- through a mountainous pile, becoming the center of an Anna-shaped indent.

Elsa slowly came up behind her lounging sister, hands relaxed behind her back and swinging her legs farther than her exaggerated steps. Crunch, crunch, crunch. She bent her waist down to talk to her sister's level.

"Are you alright there?" She tilted her head.

Anna twisted her body to be face-up. Met Elsa's eyes. Smirked.

"I'm better than alright. 'Cause _I won_."

Elsa rolled her eyes and wiggled her fingers.

A mass of snow fell upon the princess.

Anna was so shocked from the abrupt atmosphere that she let out a yelp, muffled by snow, and popped her head out of the mound to gasp for air.

"You know," She wriggled her shoulders arms above the pile, "This only further proves that I won." She wriggled and writhed so much that the snow around her settled and compacted; she was going nowhere fast.

After watching her stubborn sister struggle (and encouragement via a deep scowl from said party), Elsa waved her hand and the snow around Anna flattened and spread into a basin formation. Anna brushed the remaining snow off herself and gazed at the shape below her. "That reminds me of the igloos in the books in the library."

She stepped closer to Elsa, who just chuckled.

"What?"

Elsa's warm breath on her chilled ear sang, " _Do you wanna build an igloooo_?"

They giggled together. Anna bumped their shoulders together before thrusting her hands on her hips. "Since I was so much better at the snowball fight than the Queen of Ice herself, I predict that iglooing will produce the same result..." She faced away from Elsa, then triumphantly looked over her shoulder, "...With me on top!"

Princess Anna, who had bested Elsa in her own way, could not have been more wrong about the outcome.

At some point while building the interior, her igloos' structure gave way and the ceiling collapsed on her. She couldn't be further from _being on top_.

Elsa had occupied her time by constructing increasingly intricate igloos. Every so often when she'd look over at Anna, the mutterings of "no, no, noooo I can handle this by myself, go do your own thing Frosty" became louder and less self-assured.

Finally after another collapse, Anna's pathetic attempts stalled. She pouted at Elsa who- face a combination of pity and mirth- created a dreamlike igloo around Anna in a spiral of magic.

Anna's first reaction was amazement at the beautiful dome surrounding herself.

Anna's second reaction was confusion at the lack of an entry or exit.

Anna's third reaction was irritation upon hearing Elsa's distant laughter.

"Elsa!"

* * *

 

When the first October snow fell in the middle of breakfast the next morning, Elsa had been mowing down on a flaky croissant.

"Looks like Princess Donna was impatient." She piped up, in-between large bites and a smile.

Anna pegged her in the shoulder with a muffin.


	7. The Yawn

Between the two of them, Elsa and Anna had accomplished a fair amount of paperwork in their joint monarchy. They'd made the decision to tag-team passing laws and hosting meetings and since had cut Elsa's workload in half, allowing her average bedtime to finally come before midnight.

Or at least it should have.

Anna had taken the position of writing and sending replies, and she had absolutely lacked the ability of written coherency - contradicting with her perfect penmanship. Her penciled-in ramblings could be understood if the reader knew who wrote them. And could read gibberish. And was Anna. Okay, only Anna who could understand her own writings. Anna and, sort of, Elsa.

So even though Anna went through letters at a faster rate, Elsa had to incorporate comprehensible logic. She did this every night when, and only when Anna decided it was time for bed. Elsa would state that she'd join her in a while -which wasn't a total lie- after a few more papers. A farewell kiss on the cheek from the younger girl. And the older would translate scribblings until the clock sounded an ungodly hour that would startle her each time.

Hence, sleep was far from Elsa's mind.

It had been this way for an upwards of two weeks. The influx of mail this night was no different, as expected from the time of year. The sisters sat at a long table, placing themselves across from another; width-wise rather than lengthwise with stacks of paper littering the rest of the tabletop.

Anna worked. Pen on paper. Her palm had ink splotches from completed response letters. Received letters on her left, replied letters on her right, the piles evening out. Letters from suitors became more abundant as the Queen's birthday neared; no longer were marriage proposals scattered few and far between, but rather becoming the whole purpose of looking through messages.

 _They can't wait for December?_ , Anna thought.

 _These princes could take a hint_ , she nearly wrote.

 _How about "no"_ , her pen lazily scribbled.

She was in the middle of a quirkier quip when she was interrupted by a loud yawn from Elsa's side of the table. She looked up to see Elsa waving it off.

"Excuse me," sluggishly followed.

"Elsa," Anna's hand hovered with the pen above a paper. "Are you tired?"

Elsa slowly looked up at her from glazed eyes.

"I'm fine, fine." Two unhurried blinks. "Truly fine." A smile.

Elsa concealed her face- and another yawn- from Anna as she straightened out the files in front of herself and the smile drooped.

As did her eyelids.

 _A tiny nap will keep me focused for later tonight_ , was all the convincing she needed from herself and her eyes plunged shut.

The papers she had been holding flopped over themselves, gradually revealing her softly slumbering face to an amused Anna.

Only once Elsa had started bobbing her head did Anna return her focus back to her work. Yeah, she knew about Elsa's late nights. She didn't know the purpose behind them, she just knew that whatever it was kept Elsa away into the wee hours of the night. At first she believed it to be her own fault, and that "finishing up some last reports" had been a front. _And we had just started sharing a bed again too_ , she thought. After the third consecutive time she had awakened in the middle of the night and still no Elsa, she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Anna had made her way to the library with choice words (including the phrase "sacrificing the _WARM_ bed") only to find Elsa slumped over the table, forehead propped up by the hand that wasn't holding a pen in midair, drool dribbling from her chin to a puddle on the table. Elsa's hand gave way and she smacked her face on the table and into the puddle, startling awake with a loud yelp and wiping drool from her lips and forehead. Anna could barely hold in her laughter and had to run back to her room with her mouth covered.

So Anna understood. She didn't like it it, but knew Elsa had her ways.

She wanted to watch Elsa more, but by _gosh_ that girl gets cold when she sleeps. Anna got up and stoked the fire. Tossed in another log and warmed her hands with the heat it provided, rubbed them together to share it. She then realized her butt needed attention and heated that up too.

Back to her seat. Elsa had full-on embraced her nap and was breathing audibly. Anna's chair made a squeaking sound as she pulled it out and she immediately looked to Elsa. Pause. Elsa exhaled. Anna exhaled. She finally sat and made herself comfortable and read the next page.

_"If Queen will have me, I believe she'd enjoy a proper time with me in the ballroom. You can fall from the sky, or off of a tree, but the only one that won't hurt you is falling for me"_

"Oh gross," With a scrunched face, Anna whispered to herself. "Just _ew_ "

She brought her eyes away from the page with a slow shake of her head.

Between the warm air and Elsa's soft snores, Anna could not concentrate on such dreary work.

"Elsa, psst, _Elsaaa_."

Nothing.

She got up and reached over the table to shake Elsa's shoulders. The only response from the older girl was a twitch that jostled the papers she'd been holding. Anna let out a quick breath and crawled over the table to Elsa's left side, then brought her warm palms to her sister's back and began rubbing her shoulders.

"Ellllssssaaaa. Hey."

Finally, with an inhale and a grunt, the older one stirred.

"Whuh... Wuzzat... Wazzat _my_ chocolate yer plannin' on takin'? I'll have you know I'm the... Gosh darned... Queen..."

Stirred, then settled, like sugar in iced tea.

Anna's smiled, locking sleep-talking in her mental database of 'stuff that could embarrass Elsa', and reverted her kneading to become shaking again.

"Okay, you goof," She giggled out and brought her hands to Elsa's waist, "Let's get you to bed."

Elsa snorted once, blinked, yawned, blinked again and stretched before replying with a weak "I'm fine".

Anna's hands helped her sister out of her seat before spinning her around.

"Go to bed, missy. By the order of the Princess."

Elsa's eyebrows rose up. "I'll have you know I outrank you. I could call the whole..." Yawn. "... Army... Fleet to drag you away." The sentence held no threat, as her voice had been groggy and eyes half-lidded.

"Maybe tomorrow after you've had some sleep." Anna began walking Elsa around the long table. "If you need me, I'll be finishing up some papers." Once they'd reached Anna's side, Elsa spoke up.

"I can make it to our room on my own, if you really want to stay and work."

Anna smiled and nodded. "If you don't mind." She released her grip on Elsa's sides.

Elsa turned toward the door but before she left, a loud harrumph filled her ears. She looked toward the source of the noise and saw Anna pointing and tapping at her own cheek. A roll of the eyes, kiss on the cheek, and a hair ruffle.

"I'll miss you 'til I see you next."

And then Elsa made her way back to the girl's shared room.

Anna, proud of herself, returned to the last paper she'd read. She sat down. " _Falling for me_..." Oh. Right.

She stood back up to find the stack of replies not yet in their envelopes, meant to be sent out in a few days. There was one response she wrote for a different prince who used a cheesy line as well and she wanted to send the same snappy remark to this one. As her fingers rummaged through the stack of papers, she noticed a lack of smudges on the pages. _Weird_ , she thought, _I usually smudge ink on each letter I write. Not on purpose, it happens often enough to replace my own signature. None of these papers have that mark_. She picked up a few, turning them over but no hidden smudges on the back.

The letter addressing the prince in question was sandwiched between two other replies, still sans smudges. Anna read aloud.

"' _Dear Prince Nils of Riverland_ ', that's funny, I could've sworn I started this one off with 'Sir Who-Do-You-THINK-You-Are'..." She read further and discovered not only that the heading had changed, but the entire work had changed as well. It was much more sophisticated and, Anna admitted, less aggressive. The letter went so far as to omit Anna's sentence about banning garish pick-ups lines (and, of course, the sentence implying her declaration of war between the two countries). At the very bottom of the page was a signature. To any common viewer, it was Princess Anna's signature.

To Princess Anna, it was Elsa's signature signing in place of her.

She could picture it now, Elsa hunched over the letter; reading, writing, reading again, and signing. _All because I don't think this prince would be good enough for her?_

She rifled through more letters, supposedly written and signed by her, all with the same phony signature. The picture in her head of Elsa hunched over a single letter morphed into a pile of letters, which then- as Anna continued- morphed into several piles, and Elsa more exhausted.

And it was that picture that made Anna realize Elsa's tiredness as of late had been her fault.

"All because I don't think... _any_ of the princes are good enough for her." She said with an exhale. She slid down into the chair and dropped the papers. Some scattered on the floor. Some landed on the table. All of them seemed to have " _your fault_ " written on them. She covered her eyes with one hand and sighed once more.

"I've got a long night ahead of me."

* * *

 

Elsa slowly woke, one eye bleary. She closed both and rubbed at the blurry one while sitting up, free hand meeting her blanket-covered knees. She blinked a few times for good measure and dropped her other hand down beside her. Strange. Usually Anna woke her up. Mostly on accident, of course; a foot kicking her, sneeze-inducing stray hairs, drool on her face that isn't her own when they cuddle, and sometimes just a sleep-slap.

This morning, she had woken up because of the lack of any of those things.

Instant panic rose up within her. Elsa stroked Anna's cold side of the bed.

Anna.

She tried to remember what happened last night. Papers. Work. Dozing off. Anna.

Right.

Relief came in a slow breath in and a slower breath out. Anna probably fell asleep in the office.

And when Elsa peeked into the office from the entryway, that's what she saw. The sleeping girl had used her arms as a pillow on top of the table. What Elsa _hadn't_ expected to see was the large pile of papers underneath the girl and, as she further entered the room, the even larger pile of crumpled papers that littered the waste bin and surrounding area.

"What is..." Elsa mumbled aloud and made her way to Anna's side.

The girl was _out_ , and snoring very loudly from her open mouth. Little indiscernible mumbles between breaths, "More... Kumla... Please...", led Elsa to a semi-silent giggle. She picked up the most recent-looking response letter and read from it.

" _My dearest Prince_ ," (the words 'Sir Stuff-It' had been crossed out and the prince's _actual_ name had been written above) " _It is with the greatest displeasure that I decline your offer. May your future endeavors of love be much more fulfilling_." The word 'fulfilling' crossed off a few times, accompanied by different spellings ("fuhfi- no"; "fufulling- NO"; "filfilling- I need to sleep").

The formal letter ended with Anna's signature, but she'd kept writing after it. Little notes about corrections and lengthening the page. The one that caught Elsa's eye, "use stuffier, Elsa-sounding words".

" _Excuse me?_ " Elsa exclaimed.

Anna startled, head coming up and arms flailing out of their spot. She blinked a few times. Checked her surroundings.

Table, not a bed.

Letters, not a pillow.

Her sister, not a dreamy potato dumpling.

"... Hi." A sleepy smile came from the younger girl. The smile was reciprocated, halfheartedly.

"Stuffier, you say?"

The smile weakened but held its place.

"I don't know how you did it," Anna yawned and stretched her arms above her head, "Being able to finish so much before going to bed."

Elsa's lips thinned, "Well, late nights _have_ become a habit of-"

"I'm sorry" Anna interrupted. Her hands fell back to the table, palms down. Some papers are smushed.

Her sister was taken aback. "You're, wait, what are you-"

"I don't mean to be so picky. For you. I don't..." She sighed and brought a hand to Elsa's clasped ones. Elsa's eyes followed the movement. Anna's eyes kept to the ground, "I need to think about some things. Work out some stuff."

Her sister huffed out a single laugh. "That's a vague statement." Her face remained serious, though her tone was playful and their hands intertwined. Elsa's thumb brushed the back of Anna's hand in a faint attempt to comfort her.

"Would you like to learn the art of stuffy writing?"

The rest of the morning was dedicated to crumpled paper fights, bad impressions of princes, and laughter. They enjoyed a giant lunch that may have been mostly sweets. A nap followed in the sitting room one door over, wrestling over the love seat before both of them passing out until dusk.

Work didn't have to be just work, as long as they were together.


	8. The Icing

Sisters were supposed to fight. Anna knew that. It was probably written in the sibling handbook, a chapter possibly located between "borrowing without permission" and "not listening".

This wasn't so trivial as a dress's disappearance, a missed word.

Anna messed up.

She didn't know how to fix it.

It had started a week earlier after prepping for Elsa's birthday. The Royal Handler, Kai, had worked with the sisters for a few hours to plan for the festivities that took place that day. There would be musicians, a pie eating contest, a petting zoo- "of course it's for the children" Anna had said, "and not for me in the slightest", she continued unconvincingly. A light snowfall would finish the evening. After plans were finalized and Kai took his leave, the girls looked at one another hesitantly.

With an itinerary this full, there was no time for them to celebrate together.

They held their worried stares.

"Well," Anna crossed her arms, "this is a big bunch of baloney."

An exhale, "I agree."

"You only get a birthday like, once a year!"

" _Like_ once a year? Is that how they're doing birthdays nowadays?"

Elsa considered herself amusing. Anna did not, and frowned thusly.

"How are we supposed to have our own celebration when we're this pressed for time, Elsa?"

Elsa didn't know what to say. Anna was so adamant about this day, considering Elsa made hers just as massive as it could've been. She pondered simply calling it, they'd be too tired afterward to do any personal plans anyhow, but Anna piped in.

"Is there gonna be any cake?"

"Cake?" Elsa thought briefly. "There hadn't been any plans for cake," she said.

Anna straightened her back. "Then that's it. We'll have to make a cake," she declared as if she'd solved all of the world's problems with one statement.

Elsa looked at her incredulously. "'We' as in 'you and I'? We'll bake a cake for the whole kingdom?"

"Well, no, I mean-"

"I suppose it's doable if each villager is okay with a single bite of cake." Elsa's eyebrows jumped.

"Let's make a cake just for the two of us! And we can do it the day _after_ your birthday, and we can have that whole day for ourselves!" Anna finished excitedly.

Elsa nodded her head, slowly at first as she considered it. "Yes, this sounds like a really good idea," she smiled.

Anna's own smile became tenfold and she eagerly offered up a hug, which Elsa graciously took.

They enjoyed their moment.

"Although we should probably make two cakes instead of one, given your track record of sweets."

* * *

 The predictably freezing December afternoon had arrived, yet the cold hadn't hampered any activities whatsoever.

The numerous light fixtures placed around the town glowed warmly through the fog and shined on the faces of the villagers meandering about. Loud children and an even louder Anna were petting various animals within a large playpen, the accompanying adults (including Elsa) gathered around outside of the fence.

Amidst the elk and deers being fed by children, Anna was entranced with a lynx. It was laying down and eying the hoofed creatures around. It hadn't even noticed her fearful walk toward it, though its nearby trainer had.

"Don't worry, she won't make an attempt to attack any of 'em." He said and nodded toward the creature. "I've just given her a big meal so right now, she's the _most_ lethargic animal here. Hmm? Isn't that right?" He looked at the lynx, who looked back at him, then slowly blinked and laid her head on the ground. "Lazy."

"If you're standing here, then I assume that big meal wasn't you," Anna started, gaze still stuck on the animal, "It's an honor to meet someone who can tame a lynx."

They properly faced one another and bowed and curtseyed; respectively. "I must say that I'm honored myself, Princess Anna. Though, I don't have to tame her. Her kind don't really attack people."

"Truly?"

"I mean, it's not something I've heard of. Yet."

Elsa was too far away to hear the conversation that her sister was so enraptured in. She'd even leaned against the wood fence as far and as inconspicuously as she could, with no luck. She could, however, guess. From the toothy smile on the boy's face to the one matching Anna's. When Anna slowly traced a path from the root of her hair to the tip of her braid and ended with a small tug, Elsa's suspicions of their flirtations were confirmed.

A booming announcement echoed through the town: the pie eating contest would commence in five minutes.

Both girls had to oversee the contest and the winner, announced by them, would receive a surprise prize.

Anna mouthed some words and looked around at the people gathering their children from the zoo to take to the event. She happened to catch Elsa's eyes. Anna turned back to the trainer boy and they'd both rushed out their goodbyes before laughing at themselves. The trainer began to pack up the petting zoo.

Anna waved and sprinted to Elsa.

"Ready to see some pies fly?", said with a grin.

The royals were escorted through the crowd forming around the rows of long tables enveloped in gingham cloth. Pyramids upon pyramids of pies littered the tops of the tables. The participants started to file into their designated benches and wait. Elsa and Anna were placed at the front platform and the crowd's eyes fell to them.

Anna nudged Elsa, who then smiled. Elsa nudged Anna, who then stood up straight.

The crowd hushed.

Elsa's arms came together in front of her.

"I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you for joining us on today's joyous occasion. This lighthearted contest had been advertised with an untold prize-" some of the contestant's faces lit up, "-And we'll _continue_ to hide the prize until after the winner is announced!"

Anna rolled onto the balls of her feet. "Anyway. You have five minutes to eat all the pies your stomach can hold. Competitors, ready your forks, spoons, fingers, and whatever else you've brought along!"

She pulled a fistful of her dress, "On your marks-"

Elsa bent her elbows, "- Get set-"

"-Go!" They both shouted excitedly.

The competitors chomped and chewed and gobbled and gorged, leaving a destructive trail of empty pie tins in their wake. One participant in particular had a plentiful pile mounting up.

"Isn't that," Elsa held onto Anna's arm, "over there, isn't that the boy you were talking with a moment ago?" She emphasized using a slight nod.

Anna squinted, then raised her free hand above her eyes as if to shield herself from some nonexistent sun rays. Elsa rolled her eyes and smiled affectionately as Anna finally found him in the crowd. "Oh yeah, yeah, you're right! He's the petting zoo trainer and, apparently, a pie machine."

They watched him dig into another pie, blue juices flying about.

"So," Elsa turned to Anna, "Tell me about your new friend."

"Oh, _Elsa_ -"

"I mean, if you want to. I'm just curious!"

Anna laughed. "He's nice. He told me that lynxes haven't attacked anyone as far as he knows."

A smile.

"He wondered where the streak in my hair went. No one's asked me about it since it vanished, and I thought it was real nice of him." Elsa hummed a noncommittal response, wondering why she herself hadn't brought up the streak's disappearance.

"I told him I didn't miss it."

That made Elsa's breath hitch and her palms twitch.

"It always felt sorta, you know. Out of place." Anna continued.

Elsa turned her head away from Anna, knowing she had a stubborn frown.

The white streak in Anna's hair served as a reminder to Elsa that her powers could and have hurt Anna, and they had to live with it together; separately. For this, Elsa had spent most of her life in hopes that Anna wouldn't resent her, while she resented herself.

"I guess it didn't fit me just right, what with all the red. I don't need that putting a damper on my style."

This moment, to Anna, had meant to serve as a conversation starter that could perhaps segue into talk of a suitor, or lack thereof.

This moment, to Elsa, stung with that same resentment she'd so longed to bury.

* * *

 

"Goodnight, Anna" was the first and only thing Elsa had meant to say after they'd gone inside the main doors of their bedroom hallway. Anna looked at her, confused.

"Are you tired?" Anna chased after her. "I felt like you might've been after the pie-eating contest."

Elsa stared ahead and walked.

"Hey wait, are you upset about something?" She asked. Met with no response, physical _or_ verbal, she frowned and decided to prod.

"Is it all that hair stuff? I didn't mean to knock your white hair style." Prod. Elsa picked up the pace.

"Are you, what, are you upset at _me_?" Prod. An even faster walk.

"Elsa, I didn't- I didn't know-" prod, walk, prod, walk, "please, if I did something, if I said something, I, is-is it about that guy from the pie eating contest 'cause if it is, we're only pals-"

"Just-" Elsa stopped, a jolt from almost running.

She held her hands out in front of her defensively.

She didn't look anywhere near Anna.

"Just let me go. Please."

And Elsa resumed her walk.

Anna watched until her eyes wouldn't, couldn't allow.

And that night, for the first time in forever, the girls slept in different rooms. The aches of their past had surfaced once again. The longest night of the year became even longer.

* * *

 

The next morning Anna pushed open the kitchen door, expecting to be met with emptiness. She was pleasantly surprised and utterly shocked when the door slowly revealed her sister leaning over a bowl she stirred. Instantly, Anna felt the rock in her stomach, the pang of having disappointed someone.

She still hadn't a solid answer of what she'd done, nor what she could do.

"Oh, you already made the icing?", said to Elsa's back.

"I knew you'd want to sneak a bit of it so I decided to make it right away."

Neither of them could tolerate the automatic friendliness with the underlying tension. Anna especially.

"What can I do?"

"You can make a second bowl of batter, whatever kind you'd like. I had some strawberries brought in-"

"No, that's not what I meant. What can I do to help _us_?"

"Oh," Elsa uttered. The sound of a wooden spoon on a porcelain bowl, stirring, stirring.

Anna turned her attention to her own bowl, empty. She let out a breath and started on her cake, eyeballing the amount of flour.

"Is... Is it about the boy?" She grabbed the nearby sack of sugar.

A big sigh from Elsa's side of the kitchen.

"Anna, no."

She looked over her shoulder to address her sister, yet focused her gaze on the floor.

"Yesterday you'd mentioned that you didn't like the streak in your hair- and I, for whatever ungodly reason, took that as you still resenting me." Anna was taken aback, _still? Resent?_ "It upset me, yes, but I have to remember that it's just my fear I may hurt you. Again. I have to stop being such a baby sometimes."

Elsa's tone remained calm and cool, as usual, even through this sort of self-realization. Her voice had filled the room and so a quiet stillness followed.

It was too much for Anna and she went back to her bowl.

_Milk._

_Uh, butter._

_Eggs, eggs, where are the- oh_.

Anna didn't want to disturb the already uncomfortable air, but Elsa was practically hoarding the eggs. "Can... Will you pass the eggs?" Elsa pressed her lips thin and kept her eyes on her own bowl. Her arm raised and fingers twiddled and a slow, visible gust carried the requested eggs blindly from her end of the countertop to the other increasingly upset end.

"Elsa, would you- would you just look at me? Please, Elsa?"

Nothing.

"Elsa!"

Anna forcefully grabbed the bag of icing that laid near Elsa and in one hurried motion, piped a thick streak of white into the length of her hair.

"I can't promise you that I won't mess up. I can't," she huffed, "I can't promise that I'll always say or do the right thing. But I can- I will- promise to do my best to make up for it. You just gotta let me know when I say something or do something that could potentially hurt you, because that's the last thing I'd ever, EVER, want to do."

Elsa didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around Anna's neck. Frosting clumped on hair and smeared on silk fabric. It wasn't terrible.

"Sometimes my mouth talks before my brain thinks," Anna mumbled into Elsa's goo-covered shoulder.

Elsa mumbled back, "you're allowed to speak your mind," before squeezing her sister tighter.

"Not if- oh," she hummed into the hug before releasing herself. "Not if I hurt you."

"So it was a case of accidental insensitivity," Elsa gripped Anna's shoulders. "I'm going to try my best to not read into things that quickly again." They stared at one another, sparkles in their eyes, in their smiles.

Anna looked to the tabletop. "So, cake?"

"Of course. Cake."

They mixed their bowls together; separately.

"I like that a little girl won the pie eating contest," Anna stuck a finger in the cake batter and wiped some on Elsa's cheek, " _hey, gross_ ", the rest in her mouth.

"Although I think the irony of the prize was lost on her." Elsa did the same back to her sister.

"Her parents didn't miss it _for sure_ ," Anna wiped at her face, "did you see that her dad almost fainted when we brought out the table chock-full of pies?"

Anna ate another scoop of cake batter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter begins the second part of this story. Thank you to those who've stuck around and thank you to those just tuning in. I appreciate all of you!
> 
> P.S. I have no idea how to make a cake.


	9. The Notes

_It's one thing if a main character makes a teeny mistake_ , Anna dog-eared the page and closed the book. _It's a complete other thing when she won't stop making them._

She'd already gone through two pen nibs putting hastily written angry comments in the margins of that terribly frustrating novel when she could no longer take it. Though, her afternoon could've been worse- the alternative was a monotonous assessment meeting that Elsa and her advisors had invited her to join in on.

_"Do I have to go to another one of those?"_

_"I suppose it's not a necessary meeting for you, no."_

_"So, not a life and death situation? So, if I'm, say, in the library and you're the sole audience to Harry McMustache spouting on about his kingdom's vegetation thriving in this 'super cold' January- just like the shrub he's got on his face, you'll survive?"_

_"Survive, perhaps. Flourish? Hm."_

_"Alright, sass. Have fun at your meeting. Meet me in the library after?"_

_"If I happen to survive."_

Placing the novel back in its home on the shelf, she rifled through its nearby neighbors, walking her fingers across the spines. _Read it, boring, boring's sequel, awful, read it--- oh hello there!_

Her fingers stopped on a muted maroon spine. She pulled at it and was immediately overcome with curiosity. What appealed to her about the condition of the book, she couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe it was the way the exposed edges of the pages were folded over haphazardly; maybe it was the way it seemed well-worn, not from lack of care but from affection. All Anna was certain of was that this book could cure her afternoon.

She made a hurried walk and a big flop onto the comfiest seat, situating herself snugly. Anna flippedthe first few pages with a fear that the old book would tear apart in her hands and when she opened it, she could swear that a cloud of dust rose up. It only spurred her curiosity on.

Her eager eyes hungrily ate through the words and by the time she'd finished the first chapter, one fact became clear. This book that'd garnered Anna's attention for well over half an hour was, simply-

"-Terrible. Absolutely terrible." She lifted the book high over her head and looked behind it, like some cruel prank had been played on her and the true contents of the book were hidden. There was no such luck.

The words were uninviting and the sentences went on for miles. "It's like the author hated any sentence shorter than eighty words", she'd spoken aloud while she messily wrote in the space below the end of the first chapter. As an afterthought, she'd written "Totally unreadable!" and underlined it. Twice. Which honestly bothered her because she wanted to keep reading to see if it got better. After all, someone loved it enough.

So she kept at it. And sure enough-

"- How can someone write this book? How can someone _read_ this book?"

She slammed it shut halfway through the second chapter, leaned back in her chair, and dramatically shielded her eyes with her right hand. She was so determined to finish the book, but it gave her nothing in return.

Anna slowly uncovered her closed eyes and let her raised hand fall to rest on the dreaded item. Then her other hand. She carefully held the sides of the book as she calmly lifted up the book and thumped it against her forehead. Again. "Speak to _meeeee_ ," a third time, for good measure.

"I'm going-" she opened it up and flipped some pages, "-to finish-" she held it near her face, " _-this book!_ " she let out a breath and opened her eyes widely.

She finally dove into it as much as someone who somewhat skipped the first two chapters could. Pen in hand, she wrote in her thoughts. Her very, _very_ opinionated thoughts. She finished this page and she finished the next, her determination sturdy. As Anna flipped the page, she finally spotted something of value, though it wasn't the spotty plot point. At the top, an odd and single word was scrawled in blue ink: "yuck".

Anna was taken aback- had she already read this dull book and written her comments?

It sounded like what she'd say. It almost looked like her handwriting. She might've already written in this book. She might've already read this book. This terrible, horrible, no good, very bad book.

The next page and the next, no handwritten notes. And then little by little, there they were, littering the pages, smudged slightly, scattered all around. Plentiful. Blue. Anna was awestruck. This could have been her own doing, and it couldn't have. Though the notes had ideas that were practically identical to her own, they were much more masterfully written and evoked more thought from Anna, more questions. She could start to see what was so enticing about this book, even if she was more thrilled about the notes than the actual text.

"That's what I thought too! Way over the top," Anna replied underneath a frank "was this scene absolutely necessary to introduce the idea of love?"

She'd met a friend in a book and for once, it wasn't a character.

The large grandfather clock struck one, chiming through the library. Elsa would join any minute now. _Unless she really has been talked to death_ , Anna mused and turned the page.

The chapter was short on the paper, and underneath was another note. This time, scribbled out with more writing below the scribbles. _Weird_ , Anna thought. She squinted and tried to make it out, a futile effort, and pouted. _Fine_. Then she read the bit below it, which would've helped _before_ she had the book touching her nose:

"Apologies for the messy retraction; accidentally and accurately guessed a major plot point that comes much later! Stand by these boring introductory parts- it's worth it, I promise. Sincerely, future me."

Anna leaned back in the chair and her body relaxed. That was such a dopey way to leave a note, it made her want to cover her face. She felt bubbly flutters in her chest- the kind she'd get when she picked and held the right variety of flowers; the kind she'd get when she rode her horse to her spot off the trail and watch the world exist; the kind she'd get when she was younger and had all the imaginary friends and situations to play with.

Elsa let herself in the library and Anna closed the book at the sound of the creaking door, deciding to savor the next few chapters of notes for later. Elsa only caught the tail end of Anna's emotional overload and smiled, brushing some hair behind her ear, "hey," as she came closer to her sister.

"Hey, yourself." Anna looked over her shoulder at Elsa.

"You," Elsa went behind and rested her hands on Anna's shoulders, "want to have lunch?"

Anna turned around fully, the book falling out of her lap onto the floor with an ignored thump. "I feel like we always talk about food. Why is that?"

A flabbergasted Elsa ducked her head, " _why_? Wh- Have you met you?"

"Okay, okay." Anna put her hands up in surrender and bent over in front of her seat to pick up the fallen book, feeling how empty her stomach was. "I could eat."

"I can bring it. You might as well stay here, I'll be back in fewer than ten minutes."

"That's silly. I've been sitting for hours, and, to be honest-" Anna stood and used her free hand to rub her behind, "-it kinda hurts my tush."

"What are you reading?" Elsa pointed to the book in Anna's grasp and the younger girl lifted it up to show it off. "Oh wow, that, that novel's ... interesting."

Anna looked up at her, half delighted that Elsa was as intrigued as she was at the mere sight of the cover and half delirious with the idea that Elsa could've been the secret writer. It was not a good combination, as Elsa caught the deranged emotion on Anna's face and thought that maybe her sister had a few too many hard-boiled eggs with breakfast.

"I'll, hm, I'll leave you to it, Anna. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Elsa held the flowing part of her dress and scampered off in the direction of the hall, or the kitchen, or any place that would be out of range of the imagined fumes that the petite girl could create.

Anna smiled to herself. Even though they'd grown up mostly apart, she noticed that they shared the same mannerisms. Elsa tucked her hair behind her ear. Elsa grabbed her dress to run.

Anna let out a single, breathy laugh as she set the book down in its spot on the shelf. She turned and began to sprint in the direction the older girl went in, starting an accidental chase full of laughter and heavy breathing. Lunch was good and healthy and there were no hard-boiled eggs.

Elsa also, probably, definitely, undoubtedly wrote in books too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!


	10. The Caterpillars

One day, back when she was no taller than her desk chair, Anna had run from her writing professor. It was a normal circumstance that the older man had grown accustomed to and her disappearances were, more often than not, accompanied with minor theft. His book. His quills. His engraved, floral-themed mustache comb. He'd usually have to search a while before he'd figure out what was missing- sometimes, he couldn't even tell she'd taken anything until their next lesson, when she would present it like a trophy.

This specific time only took him moments to register what the thieving little Anna had run off with.

Winter hadn't ended and wouldn't for a few more weeks, but this particular week in February had been a surprising exception. People were out and about. Even bugs brought themselves to the surface. Anna sat in her open field of tall yellowed grass, damp from melted snow. The sun shone bright on her face and the through the stolen spectacles.

Footsteps rang somewhere on her left. She turned to see Elsa in the distance, running through the meadow toward her. Even though they would usually meet after their lessons, Elsa was much earlier than expected. Anna briefly wondered in amusement if her sister had fled her lessons as well. Then she remembered who her sister was and figured that the nerd probably finished her lesson early. She went back to the item in her hands.

Elsa finally caught sight of her small sister in the long grass and waved with a loud "hey" and ran faster. Anna tilted the spectacles around to catch the sun's bright rays. And tilted. The rays coming through the glasses weren't lining up with themselves. She glared and frowned, frustrated. _This was supposed to work by now_. Then she found what she was looking for- a concentrated spot of sun on a blade of grass. Elsa, out of breath, stumbled within talking distance.

"Hey," she managed, panting.

"Hi." Anna was focused.

Elsa stood beside Anna. She pointed. "Are those your professor's spectacles?"

"Yeah." Too focused.

"What are you-" " _Yeah!_ " Anna cut Elsa off with an abrupt elated shout. She completed her mission of burning a hole in the grass and with that, she squinted up at her sister, "Hi."

"...H-Hello." Elsa had greeted her three times by this point, this time with caution now that Anna had an apparent weapon in her grasp. "What, um, what are you doing, exactly?"

"Making fire." Anna said calmly. "I read somethin' like this in a book and thought I'd give it a whirl," continued as if it were a normal thing to talk about.

Before Elsa could ask about what kind of arson-filled books Anna could possibly be reading, the smaller girl let out a shriek, fueled with fear as the fields echoed. " _Eeeeew!_ "

Anna jumped to a standing position, her eyes wide and one finger pointed at the intrusion; slowly wriggling on the slightly burnt blade of grass was a bulbous, chartreuse caterpillar. Elsa's arm came up to her mouth in an effort to keep herself from laughing, but before even so much as a chortle could escape she saw her sister hold the glasses and attempt to shine sunlight through the lenses again, this time on the bug.

"Don't burn it!"

Elsa knocked the item out of Anna's hands, who then looked up with a bewildered face.

"But it's ugly. And yucky. Why are you, why?"

"Anna, do you know what a caterpillar is?"

"Yeah." she crossed her arms. She pouted. She looked away. "No."

"They're little insects that don't bother anyone. They crawl around and eat grass. One day they make a cocoon around themselves and hide for a long time. Eventually they break free and come out as butterflies. It may be ugly now but it'll become beautiful soon. Though some caterpillars take a long time to become butterflies, they all do in the end." She regarded the cool air around her, feeling as though she'd said something inspirational and given her little sister some advice about life.

"Wow." Anna slowly nodded, seemingly intrigued. "Okay. You like squishy bugs."

Elsa whipped her head in Anna's direction. "Okay, and you're _scared_ of squishy bugs," her eyebrows raised and she held a tight-lipped half smile.

Anna let out a very loud, very theatrical gasp. "I'm-" she guffawed and sputtered, "I'm not scared of bugs!"

"Alright, alright," Elsa held her hands out defensively, "you aren't scared." She held her hands behind her. "I only meant to say that anyone who could pick one of those up would be very, _very_ brave." She coyly walked backwards and then waved goodbye with a sprint, mentioning dinner in a shout.

"I'm brave. Pfft, I'm so super brave" She whispered and frowned at Elsa's back. She frowned at the bug. The bug joyfully wiggled. She groaned at its happiness. "You just had to be gross, didn't you?"

Anna steeled herself, _Alright, I gotta do this. I'm not scared. At all. I am brave!_ She screeched and forced herself to yank with all her might at the stalk of grass that the caterpillar was so peacefully feasting upon. She'd pulled so hard that the momentum nearly launched the caterpillar, instead leaving it to dangle precariously at the edge of the blade of grass. Anna swore she heard it scream for help at the top of its yucky bug lungs.

It swung by the few feet and toes that held onto the leaf of grass for a moment, then plummeted. Anna's body instinctively shot her arm forward and there the bug plopped, right into her cupped hand.

She screamed, of course, and tugged her skirt in front of her as a makeshift pocket to throw the offending insect into.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, _eeeew!_ " Anna rubbed her free hand on the ground and on her blouse, disgusted that she'd touched a bug. That feeling of disgust quickly turned to delight at the fact that she'd _picked up a caterpillar!_ She raced back to the castle and spent the whole time crafting ideas on how to cleverly present it to Elsa.

After dinner, the girls went back to their shared room and Anna giggled conspiratorially the whole way. When they arrived, Elsa found a bowl on her bed and a note under the bowl. The bowl had one bravely caught caterpillar and the note had "enjoy this yucky bug" and a crudely drawn frowny face.

And that was the very first caterpillar Elsa had received from Anna. Being so close to Valentine's Day, it became an instant tradition. Even during the isolation, Anna would write a Valentine's note and collect a gross caterpillar and shove them both under that dreaded door. Then it was forgone one year and the next and forgotten for a long time after that, until-

"I did _what_ for you?"

"You'd go way out of your comfort zone just to try to prove to me that you weren't afraid of bugs."

"I didn't have to prove that. I'm _not_ afraid of bugs." Anna replied unconvincingly. Elsa quirked an eyebrow at her. They'd been walking side by side in the hall when they passed a window that oversaw a concealed indoor courtyard, lush with greenery opposing the snowy nature outside. Green mossy trees grew green baby leaves housed green caterpillar cocoons. "Yuck," Anna uttered and shuddered when they walked by not even a minute ago.

"Disregarding _that_ bold lie," Elsa noted with her head, "I'd always thought it was really nice of you to do that, to be that brave, for me. Truly."

"Really?" Out of her quirked lips, Anna's tone dripped with doubt. " _That's_ what qualifies as brave to you? Even after all those times that I was brace during playtime? Remember when I so bravely saved you from imaginary bears, imaginary dragons, and my very real, very _potent_ dirt cookies?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yes, _somehow_ it tops all of those. I recall, you'd stick a caterpillar under the door and I'd hear you squeal in fear when it started crawling around, but you managed the courage to keep it up every Valentine's Day for a few years straight."

"Ooh," Anna put her hand on Elsa's shoulder, "Speaking of it, Valentine's Day's in a few days. What should we do? Host a gala? Sail somewhere?" Anna gazed at Elsa, momentarily wonderstruck with possibilities, the previous conversation set aside.

"Or, and hear me out," Elsa took a deep breath, "we could stay here and do nothing," she spoke unhurriedly, emphasizing each word. _Instead of trying to plan a whole gala in three days_ , she added in her head.

"Nothing nothing?" She blinked rapidly and tilted her head skeptically. Do-nothing days made Elsa fidgety and she wasn't usually this quick to suggest one.

"Well, except enjoy ourselves, our own company."

Anna smiled. "You mean that?"

"Yes, Anna. Yes I do." A pause. "Maybe we can have a light picnic where you don't shape and serve food right out of the ground."

Anna grinned at the floor and shook her head lightly, letting a faint whisper escape; "always with the snark, you."

* * *

 

Their picnic ran a little long and late that chilly February evening and neither of them really noticed, busy sitting and chatting and laughing, until the cover of their tree no longer shielded their eyes from the sun floating just above the horizon.

"Ooh, hey, look at that," Anna jerked her head, "the sun is setting."

Elsa raised a hand over her eyes. "It looks very nice."

The pristine piles of snow shimmered with pinks reflected from the sky. Though it hadn't snowed since that morning, the air still held that sort of silence that comes with snowfall.

"Yep. Okay." Anna uncrossed her legs and stood, offering her hands to Elsa. "We gotta go."

"We- Wait, what? That was sudden. Alright." Elsa accepted Anna's hands and she was pulled up.

They raced back to the castle grounds, _come on, come on!_ Flew up the stairs, _where are we going, anyway?_ Sprinted down the hall, _you'll see if you get your butt in gear!_ Alternating between wheezing and cracking up, they made it to their bedroom door.

Anna looked to the door, to the knob, then to her sister. "Go on, you open it." Elsa, hesitant, prepared herself for whatever lay ahead.

The door creaked open.

The curtains were drawn back, illuminating the room with yellows and pinks and reds from the sunset. The room, bright and beautiful as it was, was overshadowed by the presence of a few dozen caterpillars. Some squirmed. Some were in opaque cocoons. A quiet couple were near the end of metamorphosis and shook in their clear cocoons. Elsa's eyes couldn't widen enough to take it all in.

"This is where I was all afternoon. I needed help from some maids and it took a lot of effort to convince them that I wasn't trying to pull a prank on you, but eventually- oof-" Elsa enveloped her in a sudden and tight hug. A honeyed spotlight shone on them through the glass windows.

Anna gradually brought her arms around Elsa's back and they held each other in a cozy embrace.

"Thank you. This is so, so... I'm speechless..." Anna tilted her head toward Elsa's, as much as she could. "... A good speechless, of course. I can't believe you went through all this trouble."

"I'm not above making a fool out of myself when it comes to you. Happy Valentine's Day."

If at all possible, Elsa tightened the hug even more.

A butterfly finally wriggled its way to freedom from its transparent cocoon and fluttered about the room on its brand new set of wings.

She hummed, rubbed a circle on Anna's back.

"Anna?"

"Yes?" Their upper bodies leaned out of the hug, arms still connected at their backs. They held eye contact.

"While this is very nice, sincerely, truly nice, I don't know how we're supposed to go to bed." Sheepish smile. "Will you help me take all these bugs back outside?"

A grimace. "Yeah, I wasn't really sure how this part was gonna go, really. But, uh, according to _someone_ , I'm still afraid of bugs, so-"

Elsa clunked their foreheads together in exasperation.

* * *

 

When a bug-free order was restored, after they said their gentle good nights and tucked themselves in, Anna'd been given the surprise of a caterpillar under her side of the sheets and screamed accordingly. A laugh, a whack, and many, many cuddles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	11. The Entertainment

Of all the gatherings between countries, this was the _last_ one Elsa wanted to be hosting. It was midday in the market and townspeople and dignitaries alike had begun to flock an hour earlier. Neighboring and far-off countries had boats piled up in the fjord. The two royals places themselves in an open area near the shop stalls, kebabs in hand, one half-eaten and the other one unfortunately untouched. St Patrick's day always brought the rowdiest of crowds and this year was proving itself to be one of the most chaotic that Arendelle has seen. Though it was out of fun and celebration, Elsa couldn't see past the destructive brutes loitering around the dock's edge. Anna could tell from her sister's fidgety fingers to her firm frown that she was in need of a distraction. Now.

"Hey, psst. Elsa." The girl to her right, whose gritted teeth and stormy eyes were concentrated on a playful brawl between three large men, didn't look up until Anna nudged her. " _Psssst!_ "

Elsa turned and met her sister's gaze, then sighed and closed her eyes.

"I apologize for being so put off, I just worry." She shook her head lightly. "These big informal parties always have an incident of some kind. Last time, someone permanently changed the appearance of the market when they rammed through three stalls. And that was only Easter."

Anna rubbed Elsa's back in comfort. "Well, hey, why don't we try to keep your mind off of this kinda stuff with a little game?"

Elsa's curiosity piqued. "What did you have in mind?"

"Back when we weren't..." Anna started, then retracted her words, "when we didn't... uh," a hand tucked hair behind her ear. She flopped her hands between herself and Elsa in a circular motion, her kebab dangled. "B-back in _those_ years where..." Anna's mental malfunction ended as Elsa placed her warm hand on her shoulder. They shared a smile.

"I was lonely a lot. And lonely led to just like, ample amounts of boredom. Boredom as far as the eye could see. I tried a lot of games, a lot of mind stuff since I didn't have anyone to play wi-" she stopped her train of thought there and took a jarringly audible breath to restart, again, " _anyway_ , one of my favorite ways to entertain myself was to play this little game I like to call 'people watching'."

"A game where we watch people? Then what were we doing before?" The corners of Elsa's mouth went up as Anna's went down.

"Okay, okay. Pay attention."Anna's eyes narrowed- mostly to squint, and slightly at Elsa. "Ah, you see that guy over there, next to the flower stand?"

"The one picking his nose?" Elsa's eyes narrowed, entirely because the man in question wiped what he'd found from his nose on a nearby flower pot.

"That's the one. He, um," she pondered aloud. Elsa took this as a chance for her first bite of the kebab, tangy and salty and just as delicious as the sign said it'd be. She enjoyed it for only a moment, as Anna continued her thought,"Every morning, as soon as he wakes up, he drinks six glasses of milk."

Elsa's head whipped around. "Six- _milk_?" She swallowed with a loud gulp.

"Yeah. He just chugs them. Through the rest of his day too, he drinks like, a pail and a half. And then, right before bed, as he's tucking himself in after reading..."

Elsa had been leaning in more and more as the story progressed, so Anna only had to whisper:

" _...He chugs six more glasses._ "

"Unbelievable!" She laughed. An incredulous Elsa looked at Anna through crinkling eyes. "And he told you all this?"

"Nope." Anna leaned back into the relaxed state she'd had before. "I made it all up."

"You- what? No way. I've seen battle plans less intricate than that." That implied more than it meant, as some battle plans she'd seen as queen were only tiny variations of the phrase " _destroy all the bad guys_ ".

Anna was glad she could impress her sister with something she came up with on her own, _though I'm never that fast thinking about it. Maybe Elsa brings it out in me_. With that thought prominent, she took her last bite of kebab and stretched her arms out, cockiness in full swing. "We're just getting started. See that little girl near the dock?" She punctuated with a point of her kebab-less stick.

Elsa looked around on the left, bobbed her head, even raised herself onto her tippy toes to peer over the crowd. She struggled and faced the complete opposite way that Anna had pointed. Anna watched her a tad more before muttering, "no, you're-" and held the older girl's face, gently tilting it to the right, "-she's over... there."

A girl, no older than eight, stood alone with a paper bag in her tight grasp. She leaned against a fence post and gazed far off on the hills, a sense of adventure and wonder reflecting off her young face.

"She runs an illegal underground blueberry cultivation ring."

Elsa was once again caught off guard and jerked her head, bringing Anna's hands along. "What on- _what_?"

Anna smiled and brought her hands to her own hips. "That bag she's carrying is full of blueberry bush seeds. She's scoping out a real nice place to plant them because she's too young to own any land." Arms crossed confidently as a story formed in her mind. "Yup, she goes and plants the seeds in an unused bit of farmland, lets the farmer take care of it only for him to discover that once it grows, it's not the plant he put there himself! But because blueberries are so, y'know, _yummy_ , care is taken anyway. She'll harvest them before the farmers have a chance and sell them herself. She's stinkin' rich."

"I thought you said there was a whole illegal ring?"

"Well, she's got some business partners. Some muscle. She's mostly the brains."

"You believe that girl," Elsa pointed with her food, "that one right there, is some sort of chaotic mastermind?"

"She could be. Though, she's doing all of this for her blueberry-loving grandma. She wanted to buy her a nice house on the hills, those very same hills where she first illegally planted blueberries. Sadly, her grandma went missing a year ago, leaving only a note," Anna took a deep breath and let out the oldest, crackliest voice she could muster: " _out to buy blueberries, sweetie_ "

Elsa, mouth agape with intrigue, was fascinated by Anna's quick wit. She was eager to hear more of what Anna could whip up, though she also wanted to prove her own worth. "Alright," she bit and chewed another piece, "I think I understand the game now." Anna's eyebrows tauntingly raised, an unmistakable " _oh, do you now_ " resounding in their mocking tilt.

Elsa's face responded with a mocking eyebrow quirk of her own and she said around the food in her mouth, "there's an older woman heading this way through the town, over there. Do you see her?"

Anna nodded. "She's too has a bag in her hand, also full of blueberry seeds." Elsa swallowed and continued, slowly, annunciating every letter purposefully. "She's the girl's grandma."

Anna gasped suddenly and smiled fully. "Wow! How wholesome are you!"

"You think so?" Elsa's face brightened. Anna nodded furiously. Anna's face had been taken over by a strong combination of pride from Elsa's swift answer and admiration from how clever that answer had been. She stared, maybe long, maybe lingering, and only moved on when Elsa's eyes glimpsed into her own.

"Ooh, okay, there's a very tall guy over _on the left_ ," she dramatically dragged out the words so Elsa wouldn't make a mistake like last time, to which Elsa rolled her eyes, "who's eating... _something_ on a stick." Elsa took the last bite of her own _something_ on a stick.

Elsa followed her sister's eyes and nodded, "I see him."

"Yeah. He's a vampire."

"A vampi- wait, that's ridiculous, Anna." Elsa's eyebrows furrowed. She chewed. "It's daytime. He'd die out here in the sun." Chew.

"Ah, shoot, you're right. Okay, so he's a werewolf. Or a ghost or something."

"Why do you think that?"

"He's so, I dunno. Standoffish. Like he has a secret. Like, a big secret."

"Funny you say that." Elsa raised her eyebrows. "He's actually one of our guards."

Surprise lined Anna's face. "Oh. _Well_ ," a squeaky pitch highlighted the embarrassment in her voice, "I've never noticed him. Maybe he really is a creature-type, disguising himself to fit in among us people."

Elsa nodded along with Anna's words. "You know, he _is_ a little strange. He's always on the job, even when he's off duty. I've seen him during lunches, eating by himself. Perhaps he doesn't fit in."

"Or maybe he's keeping his distance because he's a ghost or a werewolf or something."

They laughed together, Elsa first and her infectious chuckles threw Anna into a fit of giggles.

The market didn't seem so crowded, then.

* * *

 

Elsa heard rustling in the middle of the night and not long after, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It's Anna, fully dressed and standing beside her.

"I've decided that he's probably a werewolf."

* * *

 

The air was fair and temperature toasty as they climbed up stairs carved directly into the mountain. They'd discussed briefly how to figure out if he wasn't human- _"we could shoot him with a silver bullet like they do in the books!" "Or, we could, you know, not shoot him at all."_ -before deciding on a stakeout of the guard tower. Anna mentioned that Odin's Peak had an excellent overview of the castle and guard post, so they snuck out and headed there.

"It's a full moon out. Did you decide he's a werewolf because it's the most convenient theory to test out?"

"Perhaps."

They kept a good pace up the stairs, Anna hummed a stakeout-like theme song. They raced for the last half and got to the top before too long. Elsa, once she made it up there and after gloating about being first, couldn't believe how stunning the view was. Anna trailed along, hands on her knees as she huffed and puffed, "this is, no doubt, the most exercise I've gotten since the _last_ time I tried to chase you up a mountain."

Elsa was entranced though. She hadn't seen such a gorgeous image in her kingdom and had all the time in the world to stare. Anna, who was only a few steps behind Elsa, had thought the same thing. It struck Anna that once upon a time, she was proposed to in this exact spot and she said yes.

"I know we have a mission, but... would you like to stay here all night?"

Scratch that, twice.

The mission was easily forgotten, and the girls talked and talked until they fell asleep, shoulder to shoulder. A wolf howled in the distance. It went unheard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I truly enjoyed writing this chapter. Thank you for reading this!


End file.
